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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170957">Christmas Eve Miracle</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denizen_of_Dreamland/pseuds/Denizen_of_Dreamland'>Denizen_of_Dreamland</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Why Choose Reality When You Can Have a World of Your Own Making? [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 4, Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Established Relationship, M/M, Persona 4 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Possessive Behavior, Post-Persona 4: Golden, Relationship Issues, Relationship Problems, Self-Esteem Issues, Trust Issues, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Unhealthy Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:35:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,480</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denizen_of_Dreamland/pseuds/Denizen_of_Dreamland</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>But, really, which is the miracle? The sky turning red, Adachi finally putting some effort into the relationship, or Maruki running home to babble incomprehensibly about Personas or some shit?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adachi Tohru/Maruki Takuto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Why Choose Reality When You Can Have a World of Your Own Making? [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927993</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Christmas Eve Miracle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This isn't the backstory I promised for this series, but... have a lazy holiday fic!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Doc, can I talk to you for a second? I, uh...” Adachi clears his throat, tugs at his tie. He looks away in embarrassment, swallows, rehearses his lines in his head. Then he looks back up and puts on the best smile he can muster in spite of his nerves. “I thought we could do something special today, since it’s Christmas Eve. Err-” He frowns, before adding, defensively, “This time it’s not sex, I promise! I’d like to do something different, just this once.”</p><p>There’s no answer, only the sound of water running down the sink in the kitchen of Maruki’s small, cluttered apartment. Adachi grips the edge of the counter with a soapy hand and lets out a sigh.</p><p>It’s no use… He’s no good at any of this dumb romantic stuff.</p><p>In fact, his lack of classiness might be what put off all the chicks he dated during college. But classiness is exactly what he needs if he wants to impress Maruki, and so he has given his little speech a few whirls throughout the whole afternoon to try to nail it down.</p><p>It’s the least he could do. After all, he <em> has </em> been kinda cruel to Maruki over the past couple of months, and this is his stupid attempt to make up for it. It might not be as grand or as thoughtful as anything Maruki could put together, but it’s a big step for Adachi, who hates showing affection or vulnerability in any way, shape, or form. Just this once, he’s pushing himself to step out of his comfort zone, just a tiny bit, to give back some of the unconditional kindness that Maruki has given him. That’s progress, right?</p><p>That bastard better appreciate this.</p><p>Adachi rinses the soap off his hands, turns off the water tap, and gives the dish cloth a quick rub before turning to the dining table. It’s small (Maruki doesn’t get many visitors) and not very eye-catching (Maruki rarely uses it), but there’s a Christmas cake standing over the winter-themed table cloth. A plain, undecorated cake, but a cake nonetheless. A cake that Adachi himself made with his own blood, sweat, and tears (and an Internet recipe).</p><p>Its quality is… subpar, but it actually is pretty decent for Adachi’s first attempt. After all, in between prison and the rigorous schedule his parole officer imposed on him, it’s been a long time since he’s actually tried to touch a kitchen utensil, so he’s extremely rusty. But Maruki always does the cooking around here, so, for once, Adachi decided to get off his lazy ass and give it a try. As a present. For the holidays.</p><p>Still, it could’ve been so much tastier if Maruki had made it…</p><p>Well, he can still help with the decorating, that bastard. He should do <em> something </em> to feed the Christmas spirit a little, since he hasn’t even bothered to put up a tree. Not that Adachi cares, of course. He’s never celebrated Christmas before <strike>(just once, with Dojima),</strike> so it’s not like he cares if Maruki lets him down <strike>(like he always does).</strike></p><p>Fiddling with his blue tie, Adachi turns to the other object on the table. His phone. He grabs it and checks the chat log, but he only comes across the last three texts he sent:</p><p>&gt; Where the hell are you?</p><p>&gt; The sky just turned fucking red</p><p>&gt; Dammit maruki pick up</p><p>Maruki hasn’t even seen the texts… He didn’t get eaten up by his Shadow, did he?</p><p>Adachi shakes his head, grimacing. No, that thought is ridiculous… Maruki doesn’t even have a Shadow.</p><p>As if on cue, when Adachi puts down his phone, the door to the apartment flies open, hitting the wall with a crash.</p><p>“Adachi! Ah…” A series of pants. “W-Wait until you hear about this!”</p><p>Adachi crosses his arms and <em> glares </em> as Maruki runs into the kitchen, jacket halfway down his arm, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. He’s clearly giddy with excitement, but Adachi’s expression remains stern, unforgiving -- how dare that bastard leave him in the dark when, all this time, he was alright and could’ve sent a text or something to spare Adachi the uncertainty?</p><p>Adachi thought he had made it clear that all of his texts were to be answered. No exceptions.</p><p>“Where were you?” He seethes.</p><p>Maruki’s face immediately falls, in tandem with his shoulders.</p><p>“I told you…! At college…” He says breathlessly, leaning against the counter to gasp for air. “B-but I… I was running late because I… haah... stopped by Odaiba afterwards…”</p><p>Of course. Maruki sure does love his detours. But when was the last time he went somewhere without telling Adachi first?</p><p>Adachi’s eyes narrow. “The hell were you doing in Odaiba?”</p><p>“Ahh…” Maruki’s face lights up again. He adjusts his glasses and beams at Adachi, taking a step forward, which makes the other man back away in surprise. “You have to see it! It’s wonderful, you have to… haa… Come with me!”</p><p>Maruki clutches Adachi’s hand and pulls, almost making him trip on the tiles as he drags him out of the kitchen and towards the front door.</p><p>“Whoa, wait!” Adachi pulls back, forcing Maruki to a halt. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>“The sky…!” Maruki says, with that overeager grin still plastered onto his face. “The sky, love, did you see the sky?!”</p><p>“Yeah, I saw the sky alright. What about it?”</p><p>“It's... haa... the advent of the new reality...!” Maruki grabs Adachi’s other hand and squeezes both of them hard. <em> “Our </em> reality!”</p><p>Adachi tenses up at those words, in absolute disbelief of what he’s hearing.</p><p>Could this be it…? Is Maruki about to achieve what Adachi never could…?</p><p>He’s not sure how he feels about that, to be honest. Even if he’s spent the last year fueling Maruki’s unrealistic ambitions, he was just teasing him, even mocking him, for dreaming of doing the exact same thing that got Adachi beaten up and thrown in jail. The possibility of Maruki gaining the power to actually make those lunacies come true never crossed Adachi’s mind, because, at the end of the day, Adachi was supposed to be the only one with the capacity to achieve anything of the sort. He was supposed to be <em> special. </em></p><p>And, now, Maruki is trying to take that away too.</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Adachi repeats, now in a quieter tone of voice.</p><p>“The real world and the cognitive world have merged! Which means that, with you and Azathoth by my side--”</p><p>Adachi raises a brow. “Who?”</p><p>“Azathoth, love, my very own Persona!” Maruki says, seizing Adachi by the arms and squeezing his frame, with a surprising amount of strength for a lanky layabout like him. “My other self, from the cognitive world, similar to yours. My Persona!”</p><p>Well, that explains the absence of a Shadow. Maybe. But it doesn't explain why Maruki didn’t know about his Persona until now, unless someone gave him his power, similarly to how Izanami gave Adachi Magatsu Izanagi without his notice.</p><p>That is certainly something to think about... But Adachi isn’t the psientific researcher in this relationship, so he’d rather leave those questions to someone who has the energy to bother.</p><p>“I still don’t get it.” Adachi grimaces. “How does that have anything to do with this new reality you’re talking about? You’re not making any sense.”</p><p>Maruki gives Adachi a long, appraising look, blinking at him with an unreadable expression, as he tightens his grip on Adachi’s arms. A smile then creeps onto his face, before turning just the slightest bit psychotic -- not enough to be alarming but enough to be off-putting. The kind of smile you wouldn’t expect from a pushover like Maruki.</p><p>“Don’t you see it, Adachi?” He says, almost feverishly. “It is our time. Our patience and our persistence have paid off and, now, our dreams will finally come true!”</p><p>With the last few words, a cackle escapes Maruki’s lips -- a cackle that, admittedly, makes Adachi’s heart skip a beat. Maruki’s enthusiasm is infectious, his unexpected viciousness is new and intriguing, and the sound of his unbridled laughter is captivating. Suddenly, Adachi is not too opposed to the idea of ditching this place, cutting loose, and following through with whatever crazy machinations are swimming around in Maruki’s head.</p><p>… He could use the excitement, after all.</p><p>He could use the thrill of doing something wrong, something out of the norm, damn, even something to break his parole. He promised to play by the rules, yes -- but that gets tiring after a while. And if this plan goes awry… well, he can just pin the blame on Maruki. Right?</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, alright, fine.” Adachi chuckles, pulling his arm out of Maruki’s grasp and grabbing his hand instead. “Lead the way, Doc.”</p><p>As for the cake… Well, the cake can wait.</p><p>This will probably be quick anyways.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy holidays to my fellow Adaruki shippers! I hope you enjoyed :)</p><p>
  <a href="https://denizen-of-dreamland.tumblr.com">Here's my Tumblr</a>
</p></blockquote></div></div>
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